3-point line: Move it back, make it worth something

Here’s an observation from the first half of basketball’s regular season â€” the 3-point line in high-school is too close.

At 19 feet, 9 inches, it seduces too many high-schoolers into thinking they have a perimeter game from longer distance.

Too many don’t.

Look at the shooting out there, or rather the lack of it. With a bonus point awarded for a shot made from less than 20 feet â€” and less than 4 feet more than a free throw â€” who wouldn’t take their chances?

The thing is, how many air balls, ricochets off the backboard and deep rebounds can we watch?

While teams regularly employ the 3-point shot, it also has hindered teams attempting to protect a lead late. Watch the games — when coaches want either a layup or free throws in the final minutes, it’s inevitable that a player will fire up a 3 in order to allegedly put the dagger into the opposition. More times than not, the shot misses and gives the trailing team what it wants, possession.

Sure, the 3-pointer has proven vital to teams making up deficits and it’s interesting when someone gets warm from the perimeter, but its risks, percentages and what it is doing to the prep game need to be re-evaluated.

An increase to at least 20-6 is in order.

Maybe that distance would begin to discourage too much play away from the basket.

Neil Devlin, originally from the Philadelphia area, has covered high school sports in Colorado for more than 30 years, writing about the people, athletes and events that encompass the Rocky Mountain prep sports world.